At the June 18 Troy Board of Adjustment Meeting, public hearings were held for a pair of requests to the board. 

The first request came from the owners of Eden Community Centers, a proposed community center that will be coming to 413 S. Brundidge Street in Troy. The request made by the owners was for a special exception to permit an assembly use, which is limited to a maximum occupancy of 55 due to parking within the proposed community center. 

Eden Community Centers is a nonprofit organization that has three locations in Georgia. Eden Community Centers CEO Tareef Saeb said that the center received requests from Troy University students to bring a community center to Troy. All of the services the community center provides would be free and open to the public.

“We want to be great friends to the university and everyone in the community,” Saeb told the Board of Adjustment. “Everything is free and open to the public. We do not restrict that to any group or religion or anything.” 

Some of the services that Saeb said the center would offer includes job placement, networking, help with school and prayer groups. He also said that at other locations they offer free health clinics. The board unanimously approved the request from Eden Community Centers. 

The board also approved a special exception to allow the existing Easy Street Development consisting of 15 duplexes to be deemed legal and to be able to be rebuilt to its current form, in the event of any damage or destruction. 

Owner Lewis Rushing said that due to the changes in some of the zoning laws, he would be unable to rebuild the structure to its current state if it was damaged by fire or natural disaster, which would cause significant financial harm to him and his business. He said he would not be increasing the size of the complex or building on it.

“I graduated from the university in 1965 and I have such fond memories of this town,” Rushing told the board. “It does me such good to be here, that’s part of why we bought it, was to come back and visit Troy. You’re good people and this is a great city.”